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The Rhodium Group estimates that damage from flooding and winds from hurricanes has doubled in the last 40 years and associated costs are expected to rise by anywhere from $1 to $3 billion statewide by 2050. Effects will not be confined to coastal areas, according to the analysis.
Two counties, Hudson and Bergen, are projected to see the largest increases in damage due to hurricanes, relative to the 1980s, of all counties in the state.
Four decades ago, the chance that an average New Jersey home in a noncoastal part of the state would experience hurricane force winds was less than 1-in-200, or once every 200 years. Those chances have spiked to 1-in-30 and 1-100, as climate change makes hurricanes more damaging, as well as more frequent.
Sea-level rise, meanwhile, is happening more rapidly in New Jersey than the global average partly because land at the coasts is slowly sinking while temperatures are rising in the northeastern U.S. faster than virtually anywhere else in the country.
The combination of sea-level rise and increased hurricane risk means Hudson could now suffer up to $660 million in annual losses, while Bergen may see $245 million in average annual economic effects, versus the risk those counties faced in the 1980s.
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